MFF Random Data: Who Does More On-Screen Walking? Jesse and Céline from the “Before” Trilogy, or Frodo and Sam From the “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy
I’ve always wanted to know if famous cinematic strollers Jesse and Céline From the Before Trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight) covered more on-screen distance than Sam and Frodo, the main protagonist walkers from the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King). To do this, I tasked myself with the most excellent job of watching the trilogies again, and timing the amount of time they walked or ran, then figured out how much screen time they have, so I could get a percentage of time spent walking.
It was a very enjoyable quest, that led to some life-changing discoveries (not really…but sort of). In the end, I was able to figure out which duo covered more on-screen distance, and which duo spent a larger percentage of their screen time walking.
If you haven’t watched these trilogies, here’s a brief synopsis for each.
The Before Trilogy – The Richard Linklater directed trilogy centers around two people doing a lot of walking and talking
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy – The Peter Jackson directed trilogy centers around two brave friends walking a very long distance, so they can toss an evil ring into some lava.
Rules and Data Collection
- I watched each film and recorded the time each duo spent walking or running. I only counted the steps they take when they are on-screen. We all know Sam and Frodo covered more distance overall, but, since we don’t see 99% of those steps, I didn’t count them.
- I figured out the amount of time spent walking in each film by using a stopwatch. Every time the characters started walking I timed it. I tried to be as exact as possible. It was wonderful, but not 100% accurate.
- I also recorded the amount of screen time that each character has. Why? Jesse and Céline are the main characters (and pretty much only characters) in the Before Trilogy, and they’re on-screen for almost every second of the trilogy. Whereas, Sam and Frodo are part of a large ensemble piece, and their storyline is intertwined with about 40 other characters.
- I based my math off of a 20-minute mile (1.6 kilometer). I feel safe with the 20-minute mile estimate. Why? Sam and Frodo spend a decent amount of time running AND grudging slowly. So, it evens out. Also, the Before duo mostly saunters during their walks. After doing some research, I learned that a 20-minute mile is the norm, so, I feel safe with the estimate.
- I did not watch the Extended editions of the LoTR trilogy.
Jesse and Céline Stats
- Before Sunrise – 17:30 minutes of walking
- Before Sunset – 23:01 minutes of walking
- Before Midnight – 20:05 minutes of walking
- Overall time spent Walking – 60:36 minutes
- Amount of screen time in the trilogy – 261 minutes
- Percentage of Screen time spent walking – 23.1% – This might seem like a low number, but remember the amount of scenes taking place on or near trains, cars, bars, benches, boats, restaurants, cafes, houses and hotels
- Estimated Distance Traveled – 3.05 miles covered
- Numbers of times they walked for over 20 seconds with no stopping – 27
- Most epic walk? – The epic 12+ minute walk in Before Midnight is a marvel of actors remembering their dialogue, and the steadicam operator not falling on their face.
Sam and Frodo Stats
- The Fellowship of the Ring – 15:00 minutes of walking
- The Two Towers – 7:15 minutes of walking
- The Return of the King – 12:45 minutes of walking
- Overall Time Spent Walking – 35 minutes
- Overall Screen Time – 178 minutes
- Percentage of Screen Time Spent Walking – 19.66%
- Estimate Distance Traveled Onscreen – 1.75 miles
- Numbers of times they walked for over 20 seconds with no stopping – 16
- These numbers might seem low – But they do spend lots of time at bars, climbing, sleeping, laid up, stuck in marshes, watching the black gate, talking to elves, sitting on rocks, and chatting.
- Most Epic Walk – The Moria mine running scene in The Fellowship of the Ring sees them covering a lot of ground. This makes sense considering an ARMY of goblins, trolls and balrogs are chasing them.
Conclusion
Since Céline and Jesse are the main characters of the Before trilogy, I assumed that they would cover more distance – and they did. Their epic walks saw them cover an estimated 3.05 miles. The most surprising aspect of the data is that they only spent 23.1% of their screen time walking. But, after watching the trilogy again, I remembered the train, car, boat, restaurant and bars scenes that had them staying stationary for long periods of time.
After watching Clerks 2, you’d think Sam and Frodo were in perpetual motion as they walked nonstop towards Mount Doom. However, the majority of their scenes see them slowly climbing, standing around, or laid in bed (or in a spider web).
In the end, Jesse and Celine covered more distance, and spent more of their screen time walking.
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John’s Horror Corner: Zombies: The Beginning (2007; aka, Zombi: La creazione), yet another blatant Aliens rip-off applied to a terrible zombie movie.
MY CALL: This movie is a dumpster fire… but it’s not without some amusement for those who enjoy a dash of immoral, disgusting exploitation in their low budget classic Sci-Fi rip-off cinema. But even as a lower budget B-Alien rip, you could do much better. MORE MOVIES LIKE Zombies: The Beginning: For more low budget Alien/Aliens (1979/1986) rip-offs, check out Contamination (1980; aka Alien Contamination), Alien 2: On Earth (1980), Scared to Death (1980; aka Syngenor), Galaxy of Terror (1981), Forbidden World (1982; aka Mutant), Inseminoid (1982; aka Horror Planet), Parasite (1982), Biohazard (1985), Creature (1985; aka Titan Find), Star Crystal (1986), Creepazoids (1987), Blue Monkey (1987), Evil Spawn (1987), Nightflyers (1987), Deep Space (1988), Transformations (1988; aka Alien Transformations), The Terror Within (1989), Shocking Dark (1989; aka Terminator 2, aka Aliennators), The Rift (1990), Syngenor (1990) and Xtro 2: The Second Encounter (1991).
This movie is a terrible slog… that’s kind of deliciously bad. Clearly this is only to be enjoyed in the company of friends who intend to share in ridiculing it with you. Director Bruno Mattei (Shocking Dark) is no maestro filmmaker, but he occasionally strikes B-movie gold.
The only survivor of a team stranded on an island of zombies, Doctor Dimao (Yvette Yzon; Island of the Living Dead) is recruited as a Ripley character to accompany a military team to this uncharted island as a consultant. The team is composed of soldier contracted by the Tyler Corporation (a la Weyland Yutani) and, like with Ripley and her colonial marines, the soldiers don’t believe her about what lies in store on this uncharted, zombie-infested island in the south Pacific.
Visuals of zombies are not impressive—more comparable to a Halloween Haunted House. Some chalky skin and veins, some vomitous green slime, and mangled Demons (1985) teeth. They are really cheaply done. Showcasing the craptastic budget, we see the exact same footage of some writhing zombies in a cave three times. Thankfully the flesh wounds and latex work are better than the zombies biting them.
Our team discovers that strange, macabre experiments were being conducted on people. And speaking of strange, we see a lot of dead babies in this weird movie. They come across many a bloody dead mutant fetus and apparently dead mutilated naked women on operating tables. But when they witness a horrendously gross monster baby birth scene with the bursting zest of a chestburster, they realize they’re in over their heads. The soldiers are attacked by a monstrous mutant dwarf zombie, crusty naked zombies, and (for no reason I can explain) even giant gorilla-bigfoot monster that rips someone in half.
As we lumber from one scene to another, I’m increasingly bored. This is a slog. Even when the action amps up, it’s still boring. Crass and antiquated, the zombies are ill-acted with rigid arms held forward as they walk. There’s a lot of blood, headshots with exit wounds, some exploding heads and the like. But even this isn’t very entertaining as far as mowing down a zombie horde can go. But I’d be lying if I denied that I had a few giggles.
Numerous scenes of Doctor Dimao and the military team replay Ripley and the colonial marines’ action in Aliens (1986). Some of the lines and character interactions seem nearly verbatim, even if poorly aped. The Berger character is a clear reflection of Burke (Aliens); as Taylor (Alvin Anson; Island of the Living Dead) is to Hudson, etcetera. From the doctor’s rescue in the very beginning (Ripley’s cryopod), it’s like Mattei was going scene by scene recreating his own hideous Frankenstein copy of the Sci-Horror classic. Someone even dissects a dead baby as in the facehugger autopsy scene. So, yeah, you’ll have a few laughs at this.
The visuals in the last 10 minutes get yet weirder—and just might have made it worth watching this movie. There are naked kid zombies who move like wobbling dancers. But is there a Queen Zombie awaiting our Ripley at the end? Well, some analogous concepts are to be found. There are writhing pregnant female zombies with tubes going into their abdomens and they’re encrusted into the wall with bloody flaps of flesh. The tubes rip unborn babies from their wombs! I said it before and I’ll say it again: we see a lot of dead babies in this movie! Really gross. It turns out an alien creature shaped like a brain and brain stem was behind it all. Thinking it can talk some reason into her, the brain talks and taunts our Ripley, then gets burned. The ending even reminded me a bit of Alien Contamination (1980).
So, in summary, this movie is a dumpster fire… but it’s not without amusement for those who enjoy a dash of immoral, disgusting exploitation in their classic Sci-Fi rip-off cinema.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 347: As Above, So Below, Discovered Footage, and Treasure Hunts
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
The MFF podcast is back, and this week we were joined by Clayton Thompson (the director of The Nothing, check it out on Amazon Prime), to discuss the 2014 film As Above, So Below. Directed by John Erick Dowdle (Devil, Quarantine), and starring Perdita Weeks and Ben Feldman, this fun horror film focuses on what happens when a treasure hunt literally leads to hell. As Above, So Below, is an underappreciated horror film, and we felt the need to discuss it on the podcast because we wanted to promote how layered and fun it is. In this episode, we discuss likable protagonists, hidden details, and clock fixing. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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Deep Blue Sea – The Podcast – Episode 33: Deepest Bluest, Haunted Oceans, and Wolfman Scenarios
You can listen to Deep Blue Sea – The Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Spotify, Tunein, Podcast Addict, Amazon, Google Podcasts, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts. Also, make sure to like our Facebook page!
Please make sure to rate, review, share, and subscribe!
Jay and Mark are joined by Robert Zerbe (@Zerbert on Twitter) to discuss “End Credits,” The 33rd and final chapter on the Deep Blue Sea DVD. We love this chapter because it features the wonderful LL Cool J song Deepest Bluest (Shark’s Fin), and showcases the amount of talented people who made Deep Blue Sea so great. In this episode, they discuss Deepest Bluest – Shark’s Fin (AKA an amazing song), haunted oceans, and Wolfman scenarios. Enjoy!
We will be moving on to Deep Blue Sea 2 & 3, so make sure to keep listening! Thank you for all of the support! Please rate, review, share and subscribe!
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Quick thoughts: Adapted from the 2013 children’s novel written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by K.G. Campbell, Flora & Ulysses is a super nice film about a superhero squirrel who helps a family come back together, and realize their dreams.
The latest Disney+ release Flora & Ulysses will most certainly be a pleasant distraction for families and individuals looking for something optimistic and fun. The story revolves around a 10-year old self-proclaimed cynic named Flora Buckman (a very likable Matilda Lawler), bringing a squirrel back to life after it was sucked up in a runaway vacuum cleaner (AKA a super Roomba). As the squirrel comes back to life, it acquires superpowers, and it’s up to the comic book loving 10-year old to protect Ulysses before it can be killed by her mother Phyliss (Alyson Hannigan) or caught (and killed) by a deranged animal control officer named Miller (Dani Pudi). On top of keeping the squirrel safe, she also has to deal with her sad-sack father George (Ben Schwartz) who has split from Phyliss, and given up on his dreams of writing comic books. Throw in a visiting kid named William (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), who suffers from hysterical blindness, and is very good at absorbing short falls, and you have a cheeky comedy filled with likable and offbeat characters.
What makes Flora & Ulysses work so well are the offbeat performances from Lawler, Hannigan, Schwartz and Pudi. They know exactly what movie they are in, and they seem to have a great time playing super nice people going through PG-rated dilemmas. There’s a relaxed vibe to the film, and that’s a compliment to director Lena Khan (The Tiger Hunter), and writer Brad Copeland (Ferdinand, Spied in Disguise), who know exactly what the material is, and give the viewer copious shots of cute squirrel shenanigans (that’s pretty much what sold the movie for me). It’s true that the plot is kiddie-pool deep, and the reason why Phyliss and George split is a bit fuzzy, but despite these shortcomings, the film still works really well. The visual effects by VFX company Framestore, and Visual Effects Supervisor Nicolas Chevallier are excellent, as they’ve given Ulysses a fun personality and believable movements.
Flora & Ulysses is a charming and relaxed family film that will most certainly give people what they want for 95 minutes. If you’re looking for a cute squirrel, easily resolved familial issues, and a kid who jokes about being able to withstand small falls with zero injuries, you will love Flora & Ulysses.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 346: Willy’s Wonderland, Nicolas Cage, and Evil Animatronic Puppets
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
The MFF podcast is back, and this week we were joined by David Cross (of the Award Wieners Movie Review Podcast) to discuss the 2021 film Willy’s Wonderland. Directed by Kevin Lewis, and staring Nicolas Cage, Willy’s Wonderland focuses on what happens when evil animatronic puppets get beat up by a Janitor. I’m a big fan of this film (review here) and appreciate the committed performance from Nicolas Cage, and the inspired story that keeps things simple. In this episode, we discuss pinball, cleaning and headbutts. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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Deep Blue Sea – The Podcast – Episode 32: Massive Explosions, Sushi, and Captain Ron
You can listen to Deep Blue Sea – The Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, Spotify, Tunein, Podcast Addict, Amazon, Google Podcasts, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts. Also, make sure to like our Facebook page!
Please make sure to rate, review, share, and subscribe!
Jay and Mark are joined by Niall Browne (@moviesinfocus on Twitter) to discuss “Are You Sure?” the 32nd chapter on the Deep Blue Sea DVD. This is the chapter in which the Generation Two shark explodes in an incredibly over-the-top fashion (and it’s kind of sad). Also, in this episode, stories are shared about how the hosts found their Captain Ron DVDs (it involves gas stations and second-hand stores in France) In this episode, they discuss large explosions, Captain Ron, and Renny Harlin’s website. Enjoy!
Please make sure to read Niall’s movie reviews at Movies in Focus (www.moviesinfocus.com), and follow him on Twitter!
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Willy’s Wonderland: Nicolas Cage Battles Evil Animatronics in This Fun Horror-Comedy
Quick Thoughts – Willy’s Wonderland is a cheeky genre film that is exactly as advertised. It’s wild, wacky, and features an inspired (and quiet) Nicolas Cage performance.
Directed by Kevin Lewis, and written by G.O. Parsons, Willy’s Wonderland is a fun genre film that features a town under siege by evil animatronics, who reside at a Chuck E. Cheese knock-off called Willy’s Wonderland. If you’ve watched the trailer, you know that inside the rundown restaurant, there are evil puppets who delight in murder, chaos and harassing unlucky people who are hired to clean the place. Their reign of terror is put to the test when a quiet drifter (Cage), who loves soda, is hired to clean the joint after he can’t pay his car repairs with cash (ATMs don’t work, and the town doesn’t have the internet). What follows is a genre-delight that features bathroom fights, death by mop, and dead-meat teenagers.
Willy’s Wonderland is most certainly a one-joke film, however, the central performance by Cage, and the inspired idea make the 88-minute film a lot of fun. It’s a blast watching Cage play a quiet drifter who says little, and is capable of extreme murder and odd eccentricities. The moments that he spends cleaning the extremely dirty Willy’s Wonderland interior are relaxing, as he cleans toilets, walls, windows and a pinball machine that he becomes obsessed with. He also takes frequent soda breaks, and he clearly relishes chugging his Punch soda that seems to keep him in check. Some of the cheekiest bits happen when it’s time for Cage to take his soda break, as he’ll leave fights at a moment’s notice, so he can drink some soda and play some pinball (it’s an odd movie). Without Cage, Willy’s Wonderland would play somewhat flat as the other actors are nothing more than blood bags, and only Emily Tosta and Beth Grant register as characters that have some inner-workings.
The script by G.O. Parsons spent time on the Blood List (solid horror scripts that haven’t been produced yet), and it’s truly inspired. The meat-and-potatoes idea is refreshingly simple, and quite devious. Sure, there are plot holes (I’d mention them, but I don’t want to spoil anything), but, since it’s a film about Nicolas Cage punching evil animatronic puppets, they can be forgiven. Another thing that makes the film work well, are the creatures by Creature Designer Kenneth J. Hall (Critters, Ghoulies, Caronsaur, Jack Frost). The guy knows his stuff, as he’s worked on fun puppet heavy films for the last 30+ years, and he’s created a memorable antagonist with Willy, an evil weasel who is capable of extreme violence.
If you are looking for a breezy horror-comedy that features some inspired moments, I recommend Willy’s Wonderland.
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The Movies, Films and Flix Podcast – Episode 345: The Blackcoat’s Daughter, Low-Key Exorcisms, and Jerky Demons
You can download or stream the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker (or wherever you listen to podcasts…..we’re almost everywhere).
If you get a chance please make sure to review, rate and share. You are awesome!
The MFF podcast is back, and this week we were joined by Zanandi (@ZaNandi on Twitter) to discuss the 2015 horror film The Blackcoat’s Daughter. Directed by Oz Perkins, and starring Kiernan Shipka, Emma Roberts, and Lucy Boynton, the film focuses on what happens when a lonely and isolated teenager is possessed by a supremely jerky demon. In this episode, we discuss low-key exorcisms, bleak humor, and why it’s one of the best horror films released in the last 10 years. Enjoy!
If you are a fan of the podcast, make sure to send in some random listener questions so we can do our best to not answer them correctly. We thank you for listening, and hope you enjoy the episode!
You can download the pod on Apple Podcasts, Tune In, Podbean, or Spreaker.
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Written, directed, produced, and edited by Chloé Zhao (The Rider, the upcoming MCU film Eternals), Nomadland is an excellent adaptation of Jessica Bruder’s 2017 book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. The movie is jam-packed with beautiful vistas, fun moments, and authentic performances by real-life nomads.
Nomadland follows the journey of Fern (Frances McDormand), a recently unemployed nomad as she travels around the American west in her Ford Econoline van (nicknamed Vanguard). When we first meet her she’s taking her possessions out of a storage facility, and heading to an Amazon warehouse (which they actually shot at) to work a seasonal job. When that job ends she travels around the states working at restaurants, campsites and gem stores to make enough money to pay for campsites and van maintenance. It’s a solitary lifestyle, but Fern occasionally finds herself with fellow nomads who teach her about “life on the road,” and give her some much needed company.
Propelled by an immensely watchable performance by McDormand (who is always great), Nomadland relishes in the tiny aspects of nomad life. Whether it’s Fern customizing her van to create more storage space, or reacting to her treasured plates being accidently broken, the film is totally fine showcasing the more mundane aspects of her life. What also helps is that McDormand acts against actual nomads who deliver much-needed authenticity, and give the film a living-breathing soul. The reason Nomadland works so well is that it feels steeped in authenticity. You never really feel like it’s Hollywood-types going slumming, and there isn’t an ounce of falseness or preciousness.
The cinematography and production design by Joshua James Richards (God’s Own Country, The Rider) is inspired, as he blends handheld camera work with long dolly-track shots that showcase the rundown buildings and wide-open vistas of the west. It’s a film that should be watched on a gigantic screen, or in a dark room because the 2.39 : 1 aspect ratio captures the widescreen glory of the west, and isn’t afraid to linger on the rocky terrains or star-riddled sky.
If you’re looking for an authentic and occasionally beautiful film, I totally recommend you check out Nomadland. It’s going to be a force during the upcoming awards season, and it’s earned every right to be in the conversation. Zhao, McDormand, and Richards have created something special and authentic, and it’s neat seeing all the love bestowed upon it. It will be a lot of fun to watch what Zhao does next, and if Nomadland and The Rider are any indication, I’m guessing that Eternals will be a legit MCU film.
Movies, Films & Flix 